Communication systems and architectures have become increasingly important in today's society. One aspect of communications relates to maximizing bandwidth and minimizing delays associated with data and information exchanges. Encryption protocols are generally used in order to ensure the secure propagation of data from one point to another. Encapsulation techniques may be used in conjunction with encryption protocols, as information is packetized and sent to its appropriate next destination. Many encryption technologies (e.g. IPsec) for voice traffic consume unnecessary bandwidth when transmitted across various communication links.
Partial solutions, such as secure real-time protocol (sRTP), address voice encapsulation by using techniques that fail to properly address the issue of bandwidth consumption. In the context of the radio access network (RAN) back-haul, the deficiencies associated with bandwidth consumption and the reliance on standard encapsulation processes are unacceptable.
In other scenarios, the addition of encryption protocols adds a significant expense for a system operator. This is due to the fact that a number of secure technology implementations implicate the use of a chip (e.g. an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), which may provide a certain encryption technology. Therefore, any system operations, upgrades, or changes must account for this hardware. Accordingly, the ability to provide a communications system that is secure, consumes few resources, optimizes bandwidth, and achieves minimal delay presents a significant challenge for network designers, service providers, and system administrators.